Slender - Trapped
by Luna Silvereyes
Summary: A simple assignment, a trip to an abandoned zoo. Get in, get the facts, get out. Eight pages worth of research, just a few hours alotted to me. Was trying to prove myself to my mean-spirited co-workers really worth this? It seemed like there was no end in sight. I was determined to end this game, but how do you win against something that can predict your every move?


Slender- Trapped

Luna Silvereyes

A/N: Holding true to my promise to really only publish Oneshots from now on, this is my take on a popular urban legend. I am a huge fan of Slenderman and I've even made a few plushies of him. I've thought about writing a fanfiction for him since CreepyPasta doesn't accept stories about him anymore, at least to my knowledge. So, here we go. This is something I dreamed up while watching Markiplier freak out about him on Youtube. Check him out by the way, he's downright hilarious.

My breath caught sharply as I awoke, covered in mud, the distinct scent of blood hanging low in the air. My limbs shook fiercely; I had to struggle to achieve even basic movement. My hands were numb, as were my legs. Everywhere hurt. I could still feel his presence all around me, all through me. My eyes watered as I repressed the horrific memories of just a few hours before.

_Get it together..._

I staggered to my feet, my stomach heaving. I doubled over again, the dry coughs knocking me off my feet. As I expected, nothing came out. After all, what could I possibly have left in my stomach? I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten.

My eyes were fuzzy, my head foggy. I peered around me, the sour taste of bile burning my throat. I was still at the abandoned zoo I'd been collecting research on. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder at the irony of my placement and how appropriate it truly was. The cages stood empty, the various refreshment stands vacant and decrepit. The pathways cracked and broken, the railings rusted. The grass was long and tickled your knees when you walked through it. Had this been a set of normal circumstances, I'd have feared the attachment of a tick or two. However, as I scrambled to my feet and waded in, I couldn't have cared less at the moment. My skirt was pushed back against my legs, the bruises I'd sustained already diminished. I could feel my long hair tangling in the low-hanging trees around me. My heartbeat slowed as I scanned the area for any sign of either the exit, or my research papers. They'd scattered in the breeze after a few minutes of being in this miniature hellhole. Half of me was just tempted to leave them.

I scrunched my eyes together at the thought, grinding my teeth in fury.

_"Are you serious? A rookie like her?"_

_ "Yeah. Mr. Conway has been doting on her an awful lot lately...,"_

_ "No way a snot-nosed little brat like that gets an assignment that good without a little head in return,"_

I tramped through the underbrush with renewed ambition. My heart now hammered in my chest beneath my muddied white blouse. No matter what, I was _not_ leaving without those documents. He could do whatever He wished with me; I was going to find those papers.

My eyes widened and I quickened my step. There! Hanging on a branch just twenty feet away! I dashed forward, reaching out to grab the page. I couldn't suppress the grin on my face as I brushed my wild hair back, scanning it. This was it; the first page of my research!

_"You see dear, that old zoo actually has tremendous historical significance around here. It was the first zoo in the country to propose total reevaluation of all its habitats to better suit the natural lifestyles of the creatures. The intent was for them all to be renovated in a period of five to ten years, truly an astounding goal if you think about it. However, admirable as their ambitions were, Uncle Sam had other plans, dear. They went bankrupt and the animals were purchased by other zoos nationwide. They set in motion a trend that is now widespread today, enclosures that mimic an animal's natural environment. Given how impressed I was with your last report, I believe you'd do well with this sort of opportunity,"_

I hugged the page close to my chest, my determination restored. I looked around warily. The forest was dark and foreboding, the thunder rolling high above me. I could barely make out the terrain around me in the blackness. However, in my heart of hearts, I knew where I was. Without skipping a beat, I headed down the forked path, taking the left trail instead of the right. A termite-eaten old sign read _Alligator Avenue_ in the direction I was headed.

My steps were calm, contradicting the shakiness I'd awoken to just minutes before. I no longer felt as terrified as I had before. I had an inkling of what to expect. I felt the cord with my miniature flashlight knocking against my wrist and flipped it into my hand, switching it on. The battery was nearly dead. I could barely make out the trail I was on, but I knew I was heading away from the main gates. A part of me screamed to turn back, to make a run for the gates before He returned, but I was not going to return without my evidence. It was my very life.

I could feel my head starting to hurt slightly, probably an after effect of being knocked out. I shook it off and kept going.

_"Look, don't get too comfortable in this place, all right? You're still an intern and technically, you're the lowest person here. Any good assignments go to me. I _am_ chief writer, got it?"_

"Yeah, got it you hotheaded bitch," I grumbled to myself as I pushed through the undergrowth, my brow furrowed as I recalled the circumstances that led me to this broken down old zoo in the first place. She wasn't going to dictate my life. This assignment was mine. I was _going_ to finish it, no matter what.

My eyes went wide as I spotted another small white illumination in the pitch blackness around me. It was another page, caught in the grasp of an old oak tree! I hurried forward, grasping it tightly and giggling to myself in my excitement.

"_But why did it go bankrupt?"_

_ "That zoo was supposedly host to a fair amount of bad luck, dear. Least of all, animals often went missing during the nights, making parents fear that some wild creature was visiting the zoo in the dark and might choose to come during the daytime and spirit away one of their little darlings. Of course, such a thing never happened, but people can believe some pretty outrageous things, my dear,"_

I tucked this page away in my pocket, twisting around to head back the way I came. The unkempt pathway wound up and around, out of sight along the hill. I swallowed dryly and continued forward. My shins and shoes were soaked through. I hoped I'd get a chance to change before too long. I had a weird prickly feeling all over and it gave me the chills. I wrapped my arms around myself with a shudder.

I froze, my breath catching as my right ear began to ring suddenly, sending alarm bells through my head. It was happening again. Fighting to calm my racing heart, I cautiously looked around the forest, moving the beam of my flashlight in a slow arc at eye level. I saw nothing in the trees and my heart calmed. However, as my heart settled, I knew that I was running out of time. I hurried along the pathway, retracing my steps to the top of the hill and heading east, toward the gates. The trail was rocky and precarious and I tripped multiple times in my hurry. I groaned and scrambled to my feet, clutching the crumpled and soaked pages for dear life. I'd have to transcribe them later, my vague thoughts chided me. Knees shaking, I picked my way along the path, eyes scanning every tree, every shadow for the pages. All the while, my heart was racing.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. _

It seemed to match every hurried footstep I took. Every footstep that told me to rush, to keep going and not to stop. It said 'to stop means to die'. Strangely, those words didn't seem to have the same terrifying effect on me that they'd had the first time they floated through my thoughts.

I reached the crossroads between the top of the hill and further down to the base. Right in front of me stood the old aquarium building. To my astonishment, illuminated in the moonlight, I caught sight of anoher page hanging on the door. My guard was instantly put up. My pages had scattered when I entered the park. This one was stuck to the door.

"He knows where I am now," I whispered to myself, proceeding forward. I reached out and defiantly snatched the page from the door.

Instantly, the ringing in my ears grew near deafening and my knees threatened to buckle underneath me. I gasped, clutching my head with my free hand and writhing against the wall of the building in agony.

_"People can sure believe some strange things," _

_ "Well…it isn't as though they have no reason to. Actually, there were a few human disappearances from that zoo," _

I ground my teeth together, focusing my thoughts on the task at hand. He would not win. He would not win. How many times would I have to repeat that before it came true? I was going to win this, no matter how many times I was knocked down.

I shook my head as the ringing finally subsided. I placed my hand on the old glass door and pushed it open. The hinges squealed in protest from disuse as I trudged inside, shutting the door behind me. I don't really understand why the compulsion to enter the aquarium was there. But somehow I knew that my research would be inside. After all, He was gauging my movements, always watching, always testing the water. But what He didn't realize was that I was an adapter and that I was learning His tricks.

The halls were entirely pitch black. My flashlight was nearly dead, but somehow still going. It flickered, the beam so weak that I could barely make out the hallway in front of me. On the wall was a poster with a toothy, grinning shark preaching something about pollution. The oceanographer in me would have been fascinated at any other time. Heck, in the daylight, I'd have been eating this place up. But daylight was a long ways off and I still hadn't found all my research. Picking my way through the decrepit building, hearing the pitter-patter of large bugs roaming free, and smelling the dry rot and stagnant chemicals from abandoned cleaning supplies was enough to keep me focused. My head was swimming from the fumes, my vision going blurry. Ahead of me, I thought I caught sight of movement. My head snapped up, eyes scanning feverishly for anything. I saw nothing, but I didn't relax. I knew better than that by this point. Just because I hadn't directly seen anything didn't mean that I hadn't in reality.

I was definitely not alone in that place.

I swallowed, feeling my dry throat stick and threatening a cough. Struggling, I fought to hold it in, cupping a hand over my mouth in desperation. He already knew I was here, why make it any easier for Him?

I happened to glance to the left and my eyes narrowed; another sheet was stuck to the wall of the hallway across from me. I could see the stark white of the paper framed against the blackness of the room. I crept toward it, peeling it from the wall and looking down at it. It might have been my imagination, or the darkness threatening to consume me, but I could have sworn the writing looked a bit different. I recognized it as my writing…but at the same time, not as my writing.

_"Human disappearances?" _

_ "Yes, dear. A few of the nighttime security guards reported hearing strange sounds, almost like radio static filtering through the air. Following that, one of the guards went missing soon after. They never found him, either. It was most disconcerting," _

My head started to pound and I scrunched my eyes shut. I'd collected four pages now. I think there were seven, maybe eight or nine pages in total. I hadn't had much time to do much research and I still hadn't been able to get all nine pages. I staggered to my feet, making my way deeper into the aquarium. Something in me screamed that to go further meant the end of this little game, but I had to press on. My very future depended on these pages. The more I could find, the better.

My flashlight flickered more intensely now. I knew I stood no chance of winning if it died completely. I had to find some batteries or something to sustain it.

Deeper into the building lay an underground passage with viewing windows for coral life, had it actually existed. Even in functional conditions, the tunnel would have been dark to allow for the creatures' sensitive sight. Now, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I shined my flashlight forward, scanning the walls in a silent panic. The darkness encased me, suffocated me. I fought for breath, listening to the pounding echo of my own footsteps and the blood roaring in my ears. My flashlight was growing ever dimmer. I'm sure that the next page I caught was completely by chance. I saw it like a beacon in the night, stuck to a wall halfway through the circular passageway. I rushed over, grabbing it down. Five pages, roughly four to go.

My head swam, my eyes tearing up from the intense pain. My world spun wildly and I felt my backside collide with the ground as I lost my balance, toppling over backward. I clasped my hand over my eyes, gasping frantically. The pain was unbearable, and I was only at the fifth page!

_"They vanished, one by one. The entire night staff, my dear. Any night person hired in disappeared without a trace. It was perplexing indeed, so much so that sponsors began to pull their funding. Naturally, this just wasn't good for business. This caused a snowball effect as the shops and expenses became too much of a burden on the budget. Eventually, customer revenue became scarce, not enough to fund it," _

It was getting harder and harder to hold on. My head hurt so much and the rest of me was starting to become affected as well. My legs were beginning to feel numb again, starting with my little toe. Crawling forward, I grasped blindly in the darkness, my hand finding the bottom step of the stairs leading back up and out. My heart hammering in my heaving chest, my breaths uneven and erratic, I scrambled up the steps, all too aware of _something_ staring me down the entire time behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know; He'd found me and He was closing in. I held back the whimpers of terror and desperation, my body reacting on its own, on memories it dredged up from somewhere to flee up the stairs, bolting toward the doorway. At this point, some of my research may still have been in there, but I was starting to grasp the idea that maybe some of it could be rewritten. I should focus on finding the irreplaceable pieces.

A crack of moonlight illuminated the floor several meters ahead of me. My throat burned from thirst and from my lungs crying out their starvation. I staggered to the door, my hand lashing out to grasp the handle. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I subliminally realized that He was coming up the stairs. I threw the door open and took off into the cool air of the outside. I'd only been in the aquarium for a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity as I gulped down the fresh air. However, my searing muscles admonished me to keep going, since my escape wouldn't fool Him for long. Exhausted, but determined, I trudged forward, toward the main gates at the top of the stairs. As I ran, my weary eyes caught sight of yet another page on the second level of stairs. This one was fastened somehow to the banister. My eyes narrowed, the cold sweat on my brow dripping down into them. He was toying with me now. That page didn't get to _this_ spot on its own, lying perfectly flat on the top of the narrow, round banister. Even a mild breeze would send it fluttering. I reached out and grabbed it, bracing for the inevitable torrent of agony.

"_Without money and very little public support, the zoo was forced to shut its doors, sadly. And still, the bodies of those guards have never been found. Even recently, when crews have gone in to try to fix the place up for resale, two more workers have gone missing," _

It came hard and fast, a tsunami of raw pain. I almost fell backwards down the stairs and my hand lashed out and grabbed the banister, stopping my descent and nearly ripping my arm out of the socket. However, that pain was minimal compared to the rest of it. Most of it was transforming into terror of what would happen to me if He came across me now. I pulled myself up, sitting down on shaky legs and trembling thighs as I pressed a cold hand to my equally cold forehead. Gasping, I turned around. My blood froze. I could barely see His shadow down there, enshrouded in the trees outside the aquarium's doors. He'd seen me, I knew. I had six pages now. No doubt He was getting a little peeved.

I hauled my broken and aching body up, limping toward the second set of stairs leading up. Just ahead, toward the elephant enclosure, I saw yet another page, this one even more mocking than the other as it sat innocently atop a narrow plant frond. I tried to sprint toward it, but I was tiring fast. My legs burned, my vision swam and my head pounded. All viable thought had given way to instinct—instinct and sheer desperation. I glanced behind me again. He stood now in the middle of the path atop the stairs, His long arms held limply at His sides. His form was rigid, still and almost complacent. I knew better. I whined in horror, grasping madly at the page and nearly ripping it in two from the bush.

"_This could be a very dangerous assignment that while I'm sure you can handle it, may be more than you expected, my dear. I want you to consider it carefully. I won't ask you to go in at night to look around, rather I'd sooner have you go with the city contractor who can answer any and all questions you might have. Are you prepared for this assignment?"_

Then, without skipping a beat, I took off up the second, shorter set of stairs toward the main gate. As I drew near, my right knee buckled at the same time I caught sight of another page fastened to the wall of the ticket building. I crumpled to the ground, sobbing in terror and dragging my battered body toward the gate, my hand groping wildly at the page even though I was nowhere near it. I collapsed again, my head cradled in my trembling arms as I sobbed in horror. Even now, after so long, I should have been accustomed to this. This same admonishment continued to wriggle its way through my mind as I somehow managed to drag myself to the building, reaching up feebly to just barely finger the corner of the page hanging just out of my reach.

I touched it.

_"Absolutely,"_

A wispy black tentacle wound its way slowly around my wrist, dragging my protesting, straining arm away from the page. Another black tentacle joined it, enclosing my arm in a vicelike grip. That grip tightened and I felt the painful crack as my bone fractured. My world was now one big vat of pain as something grabbed my neck and goaded me to turn around, while my gaze remained locked on the page that I almost had. Gradually, His strength won out over my own feeble attempts and my eyes were dragged away to meet His non-existent ones. His face was mere inches from my own, that blank, featureless white void, devoid of any humanity leering down at me. A thin, white hand came up to caress my face, sending a shudder of terror rippling through me. I struggled weakly, but His grip was firm, those damned tentacles bringing me ever closer to him. My mind, in a last ditch attempt to keep from shutting down, tried to reassure me that this was all a dream, a horrid nightmare. However, this close to His damning presence, I knew that wasn't true. He was deceptively warm, proof that He was alive. He was alive, He was real, and He was _hungry_.

I quickly buried my mind deep, busying it with anything but what was currently happening to me. The pain, the anguish, and the sheer horror was all pushed back as I recalled the positions of all the pages and how long it had taken before I was subdued yet again. My body finally numbed itself, the pain ebbing away in most places. I might have cried out, but no one would have heard me anyway. And even if they had, they wouldn't have been able to help me. I knew what was going to happen, what always happened. As I felt him finally begin to tear into me, my world mercifully went completely black.

My breath caught sharply as I awoke, covered in mud, the distinct scent of blood hanging low in the air. My limbs shook fiercely; I had to struggle to achieve even basic movement. My hands were numb, as were my legs. Everywhere hurt. I could still feel his presence all around me, all through me. My eyes watered as I repressed the horrific memories of just a few hours before.

_Get it together..._

_ And the game begins again._

A/N: It never says in any of the games that Slenderman actually _kills_ you…


End file.
